Sophie entered the main door, spotting Eliot and Parker on their phones in the rear hall. She waited as they finished their respective calls.
"Well, nobody seems to have any idea who she is." Parker threw her arms up as she approached.
"We contacted every client and associate with knowledge of this address and no one knew her or of anyone asking." Eliot sighed as he shoved his phone back in his pocket.
"Neither the cops nor the hospital had any more luck. They are waiting to see if anyone reports her missing." Sophie's eyes watched their reactions.
"Assuming she's local." Eliot frowned.
Sophie's head began to tilt.
"She could have been from anywhere," Parker noted. "She was here for us."
"Not anywhere. Her accent was definitely regional, but not necessarily NOLA. And all we know is she was tracking Harry." Eliot corrected.
"The paper did say Wilson, not Leverage." Sophie pursed her lips.
"But Harry is a point of contact for us," Parker insisted.
"But he's also a lawyer and a person with his own baggage," Eliot argued.
"What are you getting at?" Sophie eyed him, knowing he had something else to add.
"It's been bugging me – her lack of phone and ID."
"Police chalked it up as stolen. Is it possible those goons took them before you two got there?"
"Possible, but not likely. Even if they were going to stage it, you don't take those things mid fight, unless you're Parker."
Parker nodded her agreement.
"So where do you think they went?" Sophie asked.
"I think she deliberately went without them." He breathed loudly.
"Why?" Parker furrowed her brow.
"That's what worries me. There's a few reasons I can think to do that, and not all of them are good." He locked eyes with Sophie.
"We'll keep that in mind. Right now, let's hope Breanna and Harry did better on their end." Sophie led them into the main club room.
"Please tell me you did it." Sophie announced as she entered with Eliot and Parker quietly in tow.
"We accessed the files, well most of them, but can't say we have any more idea what is going on than we did before," Breanna replied, not moving from her laptop.
"How is that possible?" Parker pouted as she sat next to her.
"The files correlate to a case from ten years ago," Harry answered.
"A ten year old case? Open or closed?" Eliot scowled.
"Closed. I was second chair with Safer on it. An insurance fraud case. The client was defrauding insurance and Medicare with bills for tests and treatments he never ordered."
"And I'm going to bet you won?" Eliot growled the question.
"Yeah, not one of my prouder moments. But this case is long over. The guy isn't even involved in the medical industry anymore, so I'm not sure what it has to do with that attack or even why that woman had the files."
"Settled in court, but I'm sure the victims don't feel the same."
"You think she's a victim from that case?"
"Not her, someone close to her."
"It's worth his." Parker nodded slowly. "She said that right before..."
"So that's why you voiced concern. You think this might have been a revenge thing?" Sophie stared at Eliot.
"It would explain some things." He looked at Harry as he spoke.
"You think she was after me?" Harry swallowed.
"Maybe."
"But that doesn't explain the goons," Breanna interrupted.
"Or the drive. If she wanted to hurt Harry, why have that along?" Parker countered.
"More questions." Sophie began rubbing her temples.
"Anything more on that drive?" Parker plopped onto a chair at the island.
"There's a couple files I don't remember, but nothing that seems of interest." Harry tossed a file onto the stack in front of him.
Breanna pushed away from the laptop to speak. "I've never had so much info that led to nowhere in my life. This thing is a gigantic web of deceit, yet there isn't a single thing that seems actionable. If the case was still open, maybe this stuff would be useful, but since he legally got away with it already, nada."
"There has to be some reason she had this, and some reason those guys tried to kill her for it. We just have to keep looking." Parker grabbed a file from Harry's pile and flipped it open.
"I..." he began to argue, stopping when she rolled her eyes and tossed it back.
"I'm not understanding any of that."
"I'll keep looking."
Breanna rolled her head, stretching her neck out as Parker retreated up the stairs.
"How's it going down there?" Eliot asked. Parker joined him on the small couch in the corridor over the bar.
"Bunch of legal stuff, but nothing worth dying over yet."
"Probably a mountain of paperwork to look through."
"Yeah. Do you really think it's possible that she was after Harry? I mean kill Harry?"
"I don't know that she would have killed him, but she might have been coming to confront him, maybe coerce him. It's possible. Grief can make you do all kinds of things, but so can desperation."
"But, if she wanted to hurt Harry, then, wouldn't that be wrong to help her? I'm confused by this whole emotions thing."
"You're right, Parker. It is confusing, that's what tells you you're right. Hurting Harry would be bad, but we have to remember that the Harry she was looking for isn't ours."
"She wanted Evil Harry."
"Right. So it is complicated. We have to wait until we can see the whole picture to decide what the good or bad thing to do really is."
"I hate waiting." She threw herself against the couch back and huffed.
"Yeah," he rolled his eyes. "I noticed."
"It's so boring."
"Patience, Parker. We practice patience." He stared across the open space, restoring the silent zen he had sat in before her intrusion.
Parker watched him for a moment, then opted to move on. Eliot kept his head locked in position, but his eyes watched her exit as a smirk crossed his lips.
Parker pulled Eliot's arm to speed his pace. Sophie had finally relented and allowed them to go check on the victim. The idea of getting out and doing something triggered all of her pent-up energy.
After checking in at the desk, they were told another visitor was present already. They both locked eyes, set their jaws, and calmly speed walked to the room.
A woman slightly younger than the victim emerged from the door as they approached. Her head was lowered as she pulled the door shut, not noticing either of them until she was nose to nose with Eliot.
"Oh my g… sorry!" she blurted.
"You know that woman?" Parker demanded, eyeing her suspiciously.
"Haley is my roommate. I'm Ashton." The woman held her hand out to Parker warmly.
"Roommate huh? How did you know she was here?"
"She never came home or reported to work. I called to report her missing. I was scared something like this would happen. I warned her."
"Warned her?" Eliot twitched.
"Poking a bear like Daeville." Ashton suddenly paused and flashed wide eyes. "Wait. You're not Daeville hitmen here to get me, are you?"
"No. We're the ones who stopped them from killing her in the first place. I'm Eliot. This is Parker. We'd like to help, if you can tell us what you know."
"Ssssure." Ashton stammered as her pulse began to slow.
"We should find somewhere a little more secure."
"Agreed." Parker nodded and began to head for a locked employee only door.
"You can't..." Ashton protested, but Parker had already popped the lock and peeked inside.
"After you." Parker gestured.
Ashton glanced at Eliot who nodded towards the door. She huffed and followed directions.
As she closed the door behind them, Parker asked, "What is Daeville?"
"Martin Daeville. He was an insurance processor."
"Harry's client." Eliot breathed.
"Who's Harry?"
"Harry Wilson, ex evil lawyer now works with us taking down bad guys like his ex clients," Parker rambled.
"Wilson? He was one of Daeville's lawyers. So you work for him!" Ashton's voice rose as she panicked.
"No, no, no. We work WITH Harry, but he's a good guy now. Well, good bad guy..."
"Parker." Eliot growled to stop her.
"Haley said she wanted to talk to your lawyer friend Wilson. She hoped she could make him help her," Ashton added.
"Help her what?"
"Stop Daeville's new project."
Parker and Eliot locked eyes.
Eliot reached into his pocket to grab his keys as Parker placed the phone against her ear. They glanced to each side before proceeding into the parking lot of the hospital.
"Yeah, Sophie, we got something."
"PARKER!" Eliot leapt, grabbing her shoulders, throwing them both back to the sidewalk. An SUV narrowly missed clipping them as it swerved through at high speed. They landed on his shoulder and rolled. He kept his arms wrapped around her shoulders and head through the roll. Once they stopped, he rolled onto his back next to her. Parker turned over onto her stomach to see the car tear out of the lot.
"Guess Sophie was right." She huffed as she frowned at her broken cell phone in the gutter.
"Yep." Eliot groaned as he rubbed his shoulder. Parker pushed up onto her elbows, he stayed on his back waiting for his adrenaline to fade.
She brushed at a scrape on her pants leg, pouting at the ruined fabric.
"You okay?" he breathed.
"I'm good. My pants aren't. What about you?"
"I'll live." He looked at the cuts and scrapes in the road rash across the backs of both his hands. His shoulder throbbed, but didn't feel broken or dislocated.
A thought occurred to them simultaneously. "Ashton."
"We have to get her out of here," Parker stated.
"Safe house. She can't go home right now."